Mad Cool Talent competition winners added to massive 2026 line-up

Mad Cool has added the winners from its Talent competition to the stacked line-up for 2026.

The festival will be returning to the Iberdrola Music Villaverde site in Madrid later this summer to celebrate its 10th anniversary. It is set to run between July 8 and 11, and remaining tickets are available here.

Headliners include Pulp, Foo Fighters, Florence & The Machine, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Twenty One Pilots, and Lorde, alongside the likes of CMAT, Wolf Alice, Jennie, Moby, The Last Dinner Party, Kings Of Leon, The War On Drugs, Halsey, Teddy Swims, Pixies and The Black Crowes.

David Byrne will also be performing his new album ‘Who Is The Sky?’ in full alongside his generational classics, and more names on the line-up include Kasabian, Jalen Ngonda, The Vaccines, Matt Berninger, Sigrid, Interpol, Holly Humberstone, Chloe Slater, The Reytons, Overpass, Ttssfu, and A Perfect Circle, as well as a wide range of local Spanish talent.

Today (Monday February 9), six new acts have been added – all of which are winners of the Mad Cool Talent by Vibra Mahou competition, which is designed to spotlight and create a platform for emerging artists.

The new names include Candela Gómez, a bilingual actor and singer from Spain who will be bringing her blend of indie and pop to this year’s instalment. She will take to the stage on Thursday July 9, and is expected to play new material from her debut album ‘Oversize’, which was released last week (February 6).

Also joining the bill are Georgian band Tape Visitors – who formed in 2023 and have already started winning over fans with their style of indie and alternative rock – and rising Spanish rock group Los Blody, who shared their ‘NO VOY A MORIR AQUÍ’ debut album in 2024 and perform in tuxedos.

They will both be performing on July 10, as will intense, Madrid-based rock group Babylon, Lisbon band Bad Tomato (who Mad Cool describe as a blend of IDLES and Viagra Boys but with a Portuguese twist), and rising classic rock group Break The Senses.

Festival organisers confirmed last year that Mad Cool has undergone a series of improvements in time for the 10th anniversary edition, which include a reduced number of stages and a lower capacity than usual.

Last year’s festival saw performances from Olivia Rodrigo, Noah Kahan, Nine Inch Nails, Iggy Pop, Alanis Morrisette, Weezer, Thirty Second to Mars, Gracie Abrams, St. Vincent, Justice, Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, The Wombats, Jet, Glass Animals and many more.

You can revisit all of NME’s coverage from the 2025 festival with our round-ups of the best moments from day one, day two and day three.

Last month, organisers also shared the performance times for the 2026 edition, which you can check out here.